REFLECTION ONE:
I consider myself to be trilingual because I am fluent in English, Hindi, and German. Although Hindi is my mother tongue and my native language, it is also the language I am focusing on through this SDLAP. I can fluently speak in conversation, but I cannot digest academic language or read/write very well. I lost these language skills over time as I moved to the US when I was five years old, but when I visited India when I was thirteen, I made a concerted effort to speak only in Hindi with family while I was there and my speaking ability improved significantly. That is why I can speak fluently now, because of the self-directed initiative I took to improve. I learned English when I was very young, and I do not remember intentionally trying to learn myself because I think the immersion took care of that for me. I began learning German in highschool when I was fourteen or fifteen years old, and I have been learning it since. In summer of 2021, I studied abroad in Berlin and took a full German intensive course. While I was taking a B2 level course, I was offered the opportunity to take the C1 level course instead but found it would require more work than I wished to put in while I was studying abroad, so I stayed at the B2 level. While I have not continuously been in German courses since that summer—even taking a break since spring of 2023 due to study abroad—I still find that I can speak it well without second thought. My reading has struggled a little bit, especially as I am trying to read German literature this semester after two years, but I can converse and hold my own in my immersive 300-level German course just fine. This is why I consider myself fluent in German—because it is a language I do not think I can lose anymore.
I’ve always enjoyed learning languages because it was fascinating to realize that I was slowly learning how to communicate in an entirely different way. I loved learning vocabulary when I first started out with German. Now, however, vocabulary is not as fun and I more enjoy realizing how the complexity of writing and speaking I can do in German is growing, especially in academic contexts. I really love being able to speak in a third language (which to me feels like a second language since the first two are instinctual), and I hope to live in Berlin for some time. It is refreshing to not communicate in English for a while.
I was unable to access the link to the FIRE model, but I did find the surveys to be quite interesting. As expected, the first one told me that I was a visual learner. This is something I have always known, and I think it helped me out when learning spelling and grammar in new languages, especially because my teachers usually diagrammed grammar rules on the board. Being a visual learner has also made memorization quite easy for me, aiding in my vocabulary expansion. I found the second survey more interesting because it had more categories and provided me with new information. This survey said that I was a musical learner first and foremost. While I have not heard this before, I think it makes sense because I get things stuck in my head pretty easily and have been singing and learning instruments since I was very young. I also find that rhythmic memorization devices help everyone. Secondly, this survey said that I was a spatial learner, which as I said earlier, makes a lot of sense to me. I liked their suggestion of writing new words on a blackboard with a wet finger and trying to memorize them as they disappear. Finally, the survey suggested that I am a social learner. I love socializing and talking to others, and I think the necessary improv that is a regular part of conversation, especially in a new language, helps me get much better at speaking because my goal can be nothing else other than communicating. I am really excited to be able to talk in my target language regularly through italki and some of these other services. I am nervous to do that with my friends, however, partially because it will be hard to translate my usual conversations with them and partially because I might get embarrassed as they are not necessarily teachers and may have less patience. I also want to try using the meetup.com website that the second reading suggested to hopefully socialize with strangers in both my target language and in German. Speaking is my favorite part of learning a new language because it truly feels like I am able to communicate in a whole new way and it is the most rewarding part of language learning for me.
I consider myself to be trilingual because I am fluent in English, Hindi, and German. Although Hindi is my mother tongue and my native language, it is also the language I am focusing on through this SDLAP. I can fluently speak in conversation, but I cannot digest academic language or read/write very well. I lost these language skills over time as I moved to the US when I was five years old, but when I visited India when I was thirteen, I made a concerted effort to speak only in Hindi with family while I was there and my speaking ability improved significantly. That is why I can speak fluently now, because of the self-directed initiative I took to improve. I learned English when I was very young, and I do not remember intentionally trying to learn myself because I think the immersion took care of that for me. I began learning German in highschool when I was fourteen or fifteen years old, and I have been learning it since. In summer of 2021, I studied abroad in Berlin and took a full German intensive course. While I was taking a B2 level course, I was offered the opportunity to take the C1 level course instead but found it would require more work than I wished to put in while I was studying abroad, so I stayed at the B2 level. While I have not continuously been in German courses since that summer—even taking a break since spring of 2023 due to study abroad—I still find that I can speak it well without second thought. My reading has struggled a little bit, especially as I am trying to read German literature this semester after two years, but I can converse and hold my own in my immersive 300-level German course just fine. This is why I consider myself fluent in German—because it is a language I do not think I can lose anymore.
I’ve always enjoyed learning languages because it was fascinating to realize that I was slowly learning how to communicate in an entirely different way. I loved learning vocabulary when I first started out with German. Now, however, vocabulary is not as fun and I more enjoy realizing how the complexity of writing and speaking I can do in German is growing, especially in academic contexts. I really love being able to speak in a third language (which to me feels like a second language since the first two are instinctual), and I hope to live in Berlin for some time. It is refreshing to not communicate in English for a while.
I was unable to access the link to the FIRE model, but I did find the surveys to be quite interesting. As expected, the first one told me that I was a visual learner. This is something I have always known, and I think it helped me out when learning spelling and grammar in new languages, especially because my teachers usually diagrammed grammar rules on the board. Being a visual learner has also made memorization quite easy for me, aiding in my vocabulary expansion. I found the second survey more interesting because it had more categories and provided me with new information. This survey said that I was a musical learner first and foremost. While I have not heard this before, I think it makes sense because I get things stuck in my head pretty easily and have been singing and learning instruments since I was very young. I also find that rhythmic memorization devices help everyone. Secondly, this survey said that I was a spatial learner, which as I said earlier, makes a lot of sense to me. I liked their suggestion of writing new words on a blackboard with a wet finger and trying to memorize them as they disappear. Finally, the survey suggested that I am a social learner. I love socializing and talking to others, and I think the necessary improv that is a regular part of conversation, especially in a new language, helps me get much better at speaking because my goal can be nothing else other than communicating. I am really excited to be able to talk in my target language regularly through italki and some of these other services. I am nervous to do that with my friends, however, partially because it will be hard to translate my usual conversations with them and partially because I might get embarrassed as they are not necessarily teachers and may have less patience. I also want to try using the meetup.com website that the second reading suggested to hopefully socialize with strangers in both my target language and in German. Speaking is my favorite part of learning a new language because it truly feels like I am able to communicate in a whole new way and it is the most rewarding part of language learning for me.
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